Silverman and Yin Receive Federal Grant for Research on Affordable Housing Development in Shrinking Cities

Department of Urban and Regional Planning faculty
members Robert
Mark Silverman and Li
Yin, along with Kelly Patterson, assistant professor of
social work at UB, have been awarded a $125,000 research grant for
their project, Sustainable Affordable Housing in Shrinking
US Cities: Developing an Analytic Tool for Sitting and Subsidized
Housing and Evaluating HUD Program Outcomes.

The Sustainable Affordable Housing in Shrinking US
Cities research project will develop an analytic tool that
establishes benchmarks for siting affordable housing in shrinking
cities. This study will focus on identifying the boundaries of
neighborhoods of opportunity near shrinking core cities located in
the 10 fastest declining city populations between 2000 and
2010.

The project is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development's Sustainable Communities program, which awarded
five total grants ranging from $75,000 to $125,000 over a two-year
period.

This research will provide HUD with a decision-making tool for
allocating funds for affordable housing development by
incorporating a broad spectrum of neighborhoods and institutional
characteristics into consideration when siting subsidized housing.
This tool for siting affordable housing in neighborhoods of
opportunity will promote broader equity goals and assist HUD in
affirmatively furthering fair housing.